[Available again! - BLF special edition light] new Sofirn AAA twisty high CRI 5mm LED

I completely agree about the nostalgic charm. The look of the open metallic cone and the wonderful color of the 3200K reminds me of certain incandescent lights I remember from the 1970s and 80s. Meanwhile, the smooth turning of the head reminds me of analog control knobs from the same time period. It might seem silly to get this excited about a ~$10 Chinese flashlight, but the little C01 brings me a lot of happiness. I’m sad that I didn’t get more of them.

I wish I had a warmer Nichia for comparison. The warmest I’ve got is a Massdrop Brass AAA Pocket Flashlight with 219B. It doesn’t list a color temperature but I think someone here tested it around 4200-4300K. It’s very pretty but at night, I think I prefer the color of the Yuji at 3200K.

I’m not holding my breath but I would love to see Sofirn make more of these! Especially the 3200k variant.

How does this light stack up against iTP A3 EOS?

Just making sure, but are you referring to the original C01 or C01*S*?

If it’s the C01 they are completely different lights; this is very low output, long runtime, ultra high CRI, and has magnet / trit slots.

If it’s the C01S (There’s a different thread for that specific light) it’s somewhat comparable. They are both high output twisties, but the olight is very cool white and the C01S is 4000k (warm neutral) and very high CRI. The olight has more modes, the C01S has magnet & trit slots. The C01S is probably throwier due to the very narrow optic Vs floodier reflector of the Olight. Battery life will be very similar on high.

I’d choose the C01S unless you value a true moonlight mode.

It is much dimmer because only 7 lumen and very floody.
But the C01S version with SST-20 led and TIR optic is much more comparable to the ITP A3. Mainly it has a more modern led with a nice high CRI tint. But the difference is not night and day.

Yeah I was talking about the C01S. Still have a couple of A3 EOS’s. Was just curious about the C01S, if it was as bright cause I had never seen an AAA light that looked as good in the dark as the A3 EOS does. If one did, I would grab it in a second as brighter is always better for my funky old eyes. I only carry an AAA light in my pocket. When I need it in the dark, the brighter it will light what I want to look at, the better I like it.

You may want to pick up a C01S then, it makes a seriously bright hotspot.
And a tip for everyone who likez a bright AAA light: the C01S makes almost 100 lumen on a high CRI SST-20, if you swap the led for a low CRI cool SST-20, I bet you are at 150 lumen.

(the C01S is uncertain with a 10440 btw, a crappy one seems to work, a high drain one kills the driver)

I think I just went ape shit. I ordered 4 AAA lights.

I’ve had two ITP A3 EOS lights for well over 5 years. I guess I just had to introduce some new lights into the mix after all these years to see if any of them give her a go for her money and see what their dark personalities turn out to be.

Got them all and gave them a short ride in the dark. Experiences for each one compared to ITP A3 EOS.

I3E EOS: Smallest of the 4. Even smaller than the A3. Twisty. One mode, no bullshit. Brighter than the A3, about the same spill.

StreamLight Microstream AAA version. Button, one mode. Button is terrible, I have to use two hands one finger on top of the other to turn it on. Turns on ok with boot removed. Dimmest of the 4, a tiny bit less light than A3 but with not as much spill. I’m sending this one back to Amazon for a replacement . Just for the hell of it, tried a 10440 on this and it wouldn’t even turn on. I wish I had waited about 15 minutes longer before I made my decision to send this back, I would have just sent it back for a refund instead. I’m not impressed with this light. I have this feeling I’m going to end up sending the replacement back too.

Sofirn C01S. Twisty, two modes, first mode brightest. Definitely brighter than A3 but not as much spill. Beam color is really on the yellow side compared to the others.

I3T EOS. Beats up the rest but costs the most. Button, two modes, first one the dimmest. Puts out the most light and also has the most spill.

All tests done with AAA eneloop batteries.

If I had to rate these, I would actually choose the I3E EOS in 1st place. Size being the determining factor (smallest size) along with simplicity, and this light packs a punch in light output. Was actually the 2nd brightest of the 4. The I3T EOS is a close 2nd place, definitely puts out the most light of any AAA flashlight I’ve used to date. Sofirn C01S comes in 3rd place. Was a bit disappointed in this light, I don’t regret buying it but I was expecting more from Sofirn. Last place goes to Streamlight Microstream. Nothing really comes to mind on what I liked about it. The 1st and 2nd place lights make my eyebrows go up when I turn them on. The last two, my eyebrows didn’t do anything. The eyebrows never lie.

Thanks for the comparison. I’d say a big part of the appeal of the C01S is to those of us who put a high priority on CRI.

I’d love if Olight updated the I3e with an SST-20 or other high CRI emitter, but I think the emitter they currently use has a different footprint, and a single combined driver+LED board, so they’d have to update the PCB, too.

Yep.

CRI+throw is better than lumens.

Just use a high CRI Luxeon TX.

I agree regarding the Streamlight. I tried it and hated it. I returned mine within a week.

I haven’t tried the I3T EOS.

I like the C01S but greatly prefer it in Low-High. The color might seem a little yellow but take some time to see if you get used to it. I recently did some similar side-by-side testing on night walks including both suburban and wooded areas. The warmer tint and high CRI of the C01S ended up being awesome. I also noticed that in high mode, the C01S reaches out well in the woods. I don’t know if tint is the relevant factor but it seemed to give me clearer illumination at distance.

The C01S low mode was nicely usable and that matters to me. One factor I didn’t see mentioned in the comparison here is battery life. You never know when you’ll need a little extra!

That’s a thought. I didn’t realize a high CRI version of that emitter is readily available, but I also haven’t looked yet.

From the datasheet, it appears only in 2700K, 3000K, and 5700K?

I guess 5700K would work for the inspection purposes I’d like a compact, single mode light for.

* Edit - I’m not seeing them available from the usual places: Mountain, LED Supply, Kaidomain, Arrow.

The original Microstream (~20 yrs ago) was a nice light, but there were a lot of complaints about unwanted activation, so Streamlight changed to this tail switch, which many believe went too far in the other direction. Still, it’s a nice little light.

Given that the development and startup costs have been depreciated completely many years ago, I wonder what Streamlight’s profit margin is on this light currently.

I started an interest thread for a host version of the C01, in which you can solder in your own 5mm led.

Olight excels in the small flashlight space. The i3E EOS can often be had quite cheaply. Olight-Store ran a little deal for a short while where the light was free and you pay for shipping… so cost was like $5. While I applaud the Sofirn for its simplicity and tint, the Olight feels more solid. Plus, I just have a peeve about lights without a glass or TIR lens. My early run Sofirn C01 serves purely as a backup light. Kind of nutty to think the installed tritium vial plus magnet (image) doubled the overall cost of the light.

One light you didn’t include — the Jetbeam U. It’s a twisty AAA light with 3 modes. Lowest isn’t what I’d call a moonlight mode, but it’s OK. Very nice casing design and anodizing. Here’s a photo — it’s #3 from the left.

My Fenix L0D is still going strong. The CW tint is just not all that appealing to me. I may try to replace the emitter at some point if I can ever figure out what would be suitable.

What over 7 months on a keychain looks like :smiley:

This is my general complaint with aluminum. You can get a nice surface treatment on there. It will look pretty when new. The underlying metal will still be aluminum. Let it bounce around a hot pocket with coins, keys, etc. and this is what usually happens. Some people don’t mind but it bugs me. So I try to take steps to avoid the tumbler action with my aluminum lights.

You have to get over it. Life’s too short to be bugged by stuff like this. Buy a spare that you don’t let ride in your pocket next to hard metal objects. You can also find or make yourself a sleeve to stick the flashlight in, if anodizing wear is a major pet peeve.

I have an i1R EOS keychain flashlight by Olight that’s terrific. It looked so pristine on my key chain, but now the fluted grip section has major anodizing loss. But, I’m OK with it. It’s inevitable for keychain duty. However, my Jetbeam U still looks almost like new because I clip it to the outer corner of my front pants pocket. It doesn’t touch any metal. Despite the handling care, it did suffer a scrape on the front, so there’s some tiny anno loss on the front edge. But again… not a big deal. I have a pristine one sitting in a drawer at home. :wink: